With a new Position-Based Dynamics solver for granular simulation, new crowd pipeline tools, UI enhancements and grooming tools for hair and fur, this release brings a better user experience, improved scalability and optimized performance to VFX artists, animators and game makers.

The new Position-­Based Dynamics is a multi­physics environment ideally suited to the creation of wet and dry sand. Multi­threaded thanks to its exclusive reliance on VEX-based operators, the new solver can run on the CPU or on the GPU using OpenCL. In addition to sand effects, artists can create solids, sheets or tethers to generate soft body, cloth and wire­like simulations.

The new crowd system uses artist­-friendly shelf tools along with a new packed agent primitive type, a Finite State Machine solver and hardware accelerated display of instanced crowds. The system has a seamless conduit to Houdini’s Mantra renderer and is equipped with controls for crowd layout, steering, collision avoidance, terrain adaptation, motion blending, and look­-at targets.

This crowd pipeline is intended primarily for large, mid-­to-­background, non­-interacting crowds executing basic motions and can seamlessly interact with dynamic elements such as Bullet, fluids and sand. It will be enhanced in future releases to support more complex agent interactions and AI for creating hero-quality crowds.

With Houdini 14, a great deal of work has gone into user experience. From preselection highlighting to new handles, improved edge­ loop selection, new UV Flatten and UV Layout tools with UDIM support, grooming tools for hair and fur, an advanced visualizer architecture, custom panels and much more, this release will make it easier for artists to work procedurally.

Meanwhile, animators will appreciate the new faster Animation editor with Animation layers and significant speed improvements to the display and playback of rigs.

Some Highlights of Houdini 14

POSITION-BASED DYNAMICS
The new Position-Based Dynamics is a multi-physics environment ideally suited to the creation of wet and dry sand. Multi-threaded thanks to its exclusive reliance on VEX-based operators, the new solver can run on the CPU or on the GPU using OpenCL.
In addition to sand effects, artists can create solids, sheets or tethers to generate soft body, cloth and wire-like simulations.

CROWDS
The new crowd system uses artist-friendly shelf tools along with a new packed agent primitive type, a Finite State Machine solver and hardware accelerated display of instanced crowds.
The system has a seamless conduit to Houdini’s Mantra renderer and is equipped with controls for crowd layout, steering, collision avoidance, terrain adaptation, motion blending, and look-at targets.

HAIR GROOMING
The new hair creation, trimming and styling toolset is based on OpenVDB and includes a new Stroke SOP. These tools operate on hair guides and is fully procedural with artistic control.
These new tools work with the existing fur tools and let you create, cut, extend, randomize, lift and comb hair. Hair rendering now includes an improved hair model with much faster direct rendering of hair and fur.

USER EXPERIENCE
From preselection highlighting to new handles, improved edge-loop selection, new UV Flatten and UV Layout tools with UDIM support, an advanced visualizer architecture, custom panels and much more, this release will make it easier for artists to work procedurally.
Meanwhile, animators will appreciate the new faster Animation editor with Animation layers and significant speed improvements to the display and playback of rigs.

Houdini 14 should be available from Side Effects’ website by the time you read this, for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Pricing remains unchanged at $1,995 for the standard edition or $4,995 for Houdini FX. The Indie version, intended for anyone making under $100K/year costs $199/year.More about Houdini 14